November 6, 2008

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, the largest national association of atheists and agnostics, is taking its billboard campaign to 6737 North Academy Blvd., Colorado Springs, for the next month, asking passers-by to "Imagine No Religion." The artwork employs a stained-glass window motif.

The Foundation, a state/church separation watchdog, launched a national billboard campaign a year ago, taking its religion-free messages state-by-state. The "Imagine No Religion" message was posted in downtown Denver for most of last summer. The Foundation then replaced its message with a timely red-white-and-blue "Keep Religion OUT of Politics" message in August, timed for the Democratic National Convention.

"When I imagine no religion, I imagine a world where instead of humanity wasting its time, money and efforts on some unprovable, supernatural next world, we concentrate on leaving this world a better place for future generations, so we could have 'heaven' on earth," noted Annie Laurie Gaylor, Foundation co-president. "Religion has often brought us hell on earth, via war, division and strife. If people couldn't pretend 'God told me to do this' or insist 'God is on my side,' most wars could have been avoided."

Said Dan Barker, Foundation co-president and author of the new book, Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists: "John Lennon got it right. No hell below us, nothing to kill or die for."

The Foundation had been asked by local members, which include a local chapter, to bring its liberating message to the home of Focus on the Family and other religious-right industries.

"Focus on the Family is working to retard progress, and is a reactionary and intimidating force," Barker added.

The Foundation has named Shirley Dobson, and the National Day of Prayer Taskforce, offshoot of Focus on the Family, in a federal lawsuit against the President, filed on Oct. 3, seeking to end the governmental entanglement with the Taskforce.

The suit alleges that a task force associated with Focus on the Family is "working hand-in-glove" with the government in organizing the National Day of Prayer.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, based in Madison, Wis., is a national association of more than 12,000 freethinkers (atheists, agnostics) that has been working since 1978 to keep church and state separate.

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The Freedom From Religion Foundation, based in Madison, Wis., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational charity, is the nation's largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics), and has been working since 1978 to keep religion and government separate.